Binding for water skis



March 14, 1961 A. M. KLUGE BINDING FOR WATER SKIS Filed July 21, 1959 INVENTOR ANTHONY M. KLUGE ATTORNEY United States The present invention relates to a binding for water skis, and in particular to such a binding which permits easy adjustment thereof for any foot length.

It is well known that water ski bindings must be designed in such a manner that the feet of the user of the water skis may readily be inserted and easily withdrawn therefrom, but at the same time it is necessary that the water skis are held securely to the feet of the user While the skis are used.

It is, therefore, of great importance that the bindings may be adapted to any foot length in order to provide a proper fitting of the binding in accordance with the size of the foot of the user.

Several proposals have been made before for adjustment of the bindings of water skis and some require a change in the position of the counter. In many instances such changes could not be brought about without using special tools and some bindings were also equipped with parts as screw nuts or bolts which amounted to a potential danger for the user of the skis and even brought about injuries to the user of the skis. 'It was observed that particularly the counter which receives the heel of the foot assumed an angular position relative to the longitudinal direction of the ski board, whereupon the user lost control over the skis.

Further proposals have been made to overcome these drawbacks without, however, bringing about the beneficial results aimed at by the present invention. This further structure, as disclosed in Patent No. 2,740,972, dated April 10, 1956, comprises a main plate or foot plate which is of less width than the ski and extends longitudinally thereon. Mounted rearwardly on the foot plate is a heel plate and the rearward end portion of the foot plate as well as of the heel plate is provided with registering slots, respectively. A bolt passes through the ski and through both slots and a knurled nut is screwed down on said bolt to clamp both the foot plate and the heel plate relative to the ski.

In applicants co-pending patent application, Serial No. 735,467, filed May 15, 1958, Patent No. 2,919,452, a water ski element has been disclosed which consists of a single supporting member and a binding mounted on the supporting member. The binding comprises an elastic flexible vamp member, and clamping means secure the lateral edges of the vamp member to the supporting member. A counter member is also arranged and a heel plate has two fork-like front portions and a narrow rearwardly extending portion. Means secure the lateral sides of the counter member to the heel plate and the latter is adjustably secured to the supporting member and has a longitudinal slot in the narrow longitudinally extending rear portion. A screw bolt is mounted in the single supporting member and extends solely through the longitudinal slot of the rear portion of the heel plate. A nut co-operates with the screw bolt for adjustably securing the heel plate to the supporting member in any one of an undefined number of longitudinally adjusted positions. Guide means are disposed laterally of the atent fork-like front portions of the heel plate and engagejthe lateral edges of the fork-like front portions and are sccured to the supporting member for longitudinal movement of the heel plate thereon.

While this structure, disclosed in said co-pending application, has undoubtedly appreciable advantages over the prior art structures, the present invention discloses a further improvement of said mentioned structure.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a ski binding which permits of an indefinite number of adjusting positions for the heel plate and at the same time provides easy adjustment of such binding to anyfoot size, as well as easy removal of the foot from the binding due to a cut-out on the vamp, should the skier fall, and additionally also provides a proper support for the counter of the binding, thereby preventing that the counter assumes an inclined position relative to the longitudinal axis of the ski board.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a ski binding, the counter of which is of such a structure that the lifting of two laterally disposed nuts by manual operation without using any tool permits adjustment of the counter to an infinite number of positions spaced apart longitudinally on said ski.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a binding for water skis in which the heel plate, mounted on the ski board, is of flexible material, as for instance a particular steel alloy, as aluminum alloy, proper plastic material or any other suitable material, as longas such material permits of flexing of the front portion of the heel plate from its foundation upon exertion of pressure on the heel plate by a screw bolt or the like, whereby upon release of such pressure, the rear portion of the heel platereturns to its original position in which the heel plate does not engage the ski board except the front and rear ends thereof. In accordance with thepresent invention, the rear portion ofthe heel plate is pushed downwardly upon tightening the laterally disposed screws or nuts, thereby providing friction between the top face of the ski board and the bottom face of the heel plate and preventing relative movement therebetween, particularly'since the front portion of the heel plate exerts a wedge effect.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a rib on the counter which assists in the retention of its upright position.

It is also a still further object of the present invention i to provide a binding for water skis in which the heel plate is of such a length that upon lifting the screw bolt.

beyond the normal lifting thereof, the entire heel plate together with the counter may be released from the ski board merely by slight forward movement of the heel plate, simultaneously by depressing the rear portion of I the vamp.

With these and other objects in view, which will -be-. r

come apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the water ski having a binding mounted thereon;

Fig.2 is a section along the lines 22 of Fig. 1, the- Fig. 4 is the same elevation of the water ski shown in Fig. 3, yet in adjusted operative position;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the water ski having a binding mounted thereon; and 1 Fig. 6 is a section along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to, Figs. 1 to 4, it will be apparent that the ski board 1 has mounted on its top face either directly or on a 2,974,330 Patented Mar. 14, 1 i1 supporting member (not shown) provided on the top face of the ski board a vamp 2 and a counter 3.

While the vamp 2 may comprise any conventional structure, in the present instance the vamp 2' consists of a flexible, elastic, rubber-like material 4 which has a cutout portion 5 at the center of its rear end, in order to avoid the usually experienced pressure on the extended rear edge of the vamp of known structures towards the foot of the user of the ski. This arrangement not only extends the foot engaging edge line of the vamp, thereby reducing the specific pressure, but also renders easier the removal of the foot from the vamp for greater foot comfort of the skier, should the skier fall. Furthermore, the main pressure by the vamp 2 is exerted on the sides and no more on the top of the foot. The vamp 2 is clamped at its side edges to the ski board 1 by means of clamping plates 6 which are disposed substantially in longitudinal direction along the side edges of the ski board 1. A bead 7 is arranged around the entire edge of the vamp 2, which bead may extend along the lateral edges of the vamp 2, with the exception of the rear end of the vamp 2, in order to permit sufiicient resiliency for expansion of the vamp at the point where the vamp engages the foot of the user of the ski.

The counter 3 consists of a sheet-like or rubber-like material 8 which is secured to the rear part of the binding in such a manner that it stands up from the surface of the ski board. Since it has been experienced that the counter collapses under certain circumstances and conditions, in accordance with the present invention, a rib is provided on the outside surface of the counter 3, which rib 9 extends from the lower forward edge crosswise to the opposite lower forward edge spaced apart from the top edge of the counter 3, so that the top portion of the counter retains its desirable flexibility. An additional rib 10 extends along a vertical center plane through the counter 3 from the rib 9 towards the bottom of the counter 3 and it is preferable also to provide a rib around the lateral and rear bottom edges of the counter 3.

The rear part of the binding comprises a heel plate 11 which has fork-like front projections 12 and a rear portion 13 which may have a recess 14 disposed in the center of its rear edge. The forwardmost end portion 15 engages the top face of the ski board 1 and is then slightly bent upwardly to provide a space between the remaining portion of the heel plate and the top face of the ski board 1. The heel plate 11 extends rearwardly from its front end at a predetermined width for a short stretch and is then narrowed down to form parallel lateral edges of a narrower width than that of the front end of the heel plate 11. The lateral edge portions operate as guide means for longitudinal adjustment of the heel plate according to the size of the foot of the user. In its normal inoperative position, the heel plate 11 engages the top face of the ski board 1 only at the front end and at the rear end thereof. A first pair of screw bolts 16, the head of which is spaced apart from the top face of the heel plate, retains the heel plate 11 against lateral movement and operates as guide means for longitudinal movement of the heel plate, and a second pair of screw bolts 17, which has larger heads, has the tendency to push the heel plate 11 downwardly towards the ski board 1 at a predetermined point of the heel plate 11, whereby the rear portion of the heel plate 11, in particular from the point of engagement with the screw bolts 17 to its rear end is pressed onto the top face of the ski board 1, thereby providing sufiicient friction against relative movement between the heel plate 11 and the ski board 1, while the front portion of the heel plate 11 assumes a steeper angle to the ski board, thus providing a wedge effect to support the locking of the heel plate 11. The widened portions provided at the front end of the heel plate 11 operate an abutment means against the rearward movement of the heel plate 11,

4 since the bolts 17 engage at a predetermined point the laterally projecting front portion of the heel plate 11.

By the arrangement of the bolts 17, a pressure force is exerted in upward direction, upon screwing down the bolts 17 onto the heel plate 11, due to the deflection of the heel plate 11. The upwardly directed force pre vents also the loosening of the nut of the screw bolt 17, even if the nut has not been tightened or screwed down completely. Since the heel plate 11 is deflected and under tension in operative position, the upwardly directed force prevents the loosening of the nut by preventing it from turning.

Due to the fact that two screw bolts are provided on each lateral edge portion of the heel plate 11, any edging of the heel plate 11 is avoided.

The bolts 16 and 17 are arranged in such a manner that the stem of the bolt engages the lateral edge of the heel plate 11, while the head of the bolt overlaps the top face of the heel plate 11, thereby preventing a lifting movement thereof to an undesirable extent.

The present structure thus not only lends itself to easy removal of the heel plate, but by the raising of the front portion of the heel plate, a wedge formation is created as a further means to prevent the sliding of the heel plate 11 on the ski board, which is particularly beneficial for the proper operation of the skis during the use thereof.

If it is desired toremove the heel plate jointly with the counter 3, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing, it is merely necessary to lift the screw bolts 17 to a certain extent to permit additional lifting of the front portion of the heel plate 11, whereupon the heel plate together with the counter 3 may easily be moved forward and removed completely from the ski board upon pressing downwardly the vamp. In the same simple manner, the heel plate with the counter 3 can be inserted again. This is a particularly desirable feature of the present invention, because it is experienced that sand accumulates between the heel plate and the top face of the ski board, interfering with the proper operation of the ski. 0n the other hand, even if the screw bolts 17 are removed completely, due to the location of the bolts 16, the heel plate 11 will not become disengaged from the ski board 1 until the vamp 2 is pressed down and permits the complete removal of the heel plate 11.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing, it will be found that substantially the same elements are encountered in this embodiment, with the exception that the heel plate has a rearwardly tapered formation similar to an arrangement disclosed in the co-pending application, Serial No. 735,467, filed May 15, 1958, now Patent No. 2,919,452.

Thus, this embodiment comprises a ski board 1 to which a vamp 2 is clamped by means of the clamping plates 6. The vamp 2' consists again of rubber-like material 4 and has the recess 5', as provided for in the vamp of the first-described embodiment.

This embodiment, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, has again a heel plate 11, which is raised slightly towards the forward end to provide the wedge formation which is very beneficial during the use of the skis, yet has a rearwardly tapered end portion 13 which is equipped with a longitudinal slot 13 receiving a screw bolt 17 Instead of providing two bolts on each lateral edge of the heel plate 11 of the previously described embodiment, in the present instance one screw bolt .17 suffices for this structure. It should be emphasized that the vamp 2 is equipped again with proper beads 7' and the counter 3' has also a bead extending from the forward lower portion towards the opposite forward portion, yet slightly spaced apart from the top edge of the upstanding counter 3' and also a vertically downwardly extending rib 10', for the same purpose indicated in connection with the first embodiment, to render the counter more solid and to retain the same in an upward position without interfering with the resiliency of its upper edge portion. The heel plate 11' can be s ew removed again without any particular tools. The distance in axial direction from the screw bolt 17 to the bolts 16' operating as guide means is chosen with such dimension, that the heel plate 11 may be removed upon removal of the nut of the screw bolt 17 Due to the slot arrangement in the rear end of the heel plate, the function of adjustment of the heel plate to the size of the foot of the user is similar to that in said copending application Serial No. 735,467 filed May 15, 1958. In order to adjust the heel plate, it is merely necessary to lift the screw bolt 17 slightly, whereupon a longitudinal movement of the heel plate is possible and upon tightening the screw bolt 17 again, the rear portion of the heel plate, that is the portion of the heel plate 11' from the point of engagement with the screw bolt 17 will engage the top face of the ski board by friction, while the front portion of the heel plate 11' will assume a steeper angle than before and provide a wedge eifect, whereby the heel plate 11' will be retained in any one of a plurality of longitudinally adjusted positions.

As stated above, a recess 14 is provided at the rear end of the heel plate 11 (Fig. 1), so that the center portion of the heel plate is of a comparatively short length due to the fork-like front portion. This arrangement leads to a better flexing of the heel plate and unexpectedly good results have been obtained by this structure.

In both embodiments the guide means are arranged in such manner that any swelling of the ski board increases the clearance between its lateral faces and said guide means.

The structure designed in accordance with the present invention brings about the advantage that the binding may be taken apart and assembled again, without the assistance of any tools.

While I have disclosed two embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined by the objects and the claims.

I claim:

1. A waterski consisting of a ski board and a binder to be mounted on said ski board, said binding comprising an elastic, flexible vamp member, clamping means securing the lateral edges of said vamp member to said ski board, a counter member, a heel plate having two forklike front portions, means securing the lateral sides of said counter member to said heel plate, and the latter having parallel lateral edges widened at its front portion to provide abutment means during the rearward movement of i said heel plate, guide means disposed at each side of said lateral edges of said heel plate for guided longitudinal ing a wedge effect by the front portion of said heel plate i in the operative position of the latter.

2. The water ski, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said pressing means comprises 'a screw bolt, the stem of said bolt engaging the lateral edge of said heel plate and re ceived by said ski board. Q

3. The water ski, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said vamp member has a bead disposed at its front edge and its lateral edges. 7

4. The water ski, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said vamp has a recess at the top of its rear portion.

5.- The water ski, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said counter member has a rib extending between the lower front portions of said member extending spaced apart from the upper edge of said counter member, and a vertically disposed additional rib extending from about the center of said first-mentioned rib towards the bottom of the rear portion of said counter member.

6. The water ski, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said heel plate has at its rear end a recess in order to provide more flexibility to the lateral portion of said heel plate.

7. The water ski, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the length of said heel plate is greater than the distance between the rear end of said clamping means for said vamp member and said guide means disposed on each side of said heel plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

